Demme to shoot Stephen King’s JFK novel

Helmer will direct, write and produce adaptation of author's '11/22/63'

Helmer Jonathan Demme has optioned the feature rights to Stephen King’s upcoming novel “11/22/63” and is set to write, direct and produce the adaptation through his Clinica Estetico banner.

Book follows Jake Epping, a 35-year-old high school English teacher from Maine who travels back in time to try to prevent President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Ilona Herzberg (“Rachel Getting Married”) will produce the sci-fi project, while King will exec produce.

Project has yet to land a distributor, though Demme is aiming to start shooting in fall 2012.

Demme has had plenty of success bringing popular authors’ books to the bigscreen, having helmed adaptations of Richard Condon’s “The Manchurian Candidate,” Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and, most notably, Thomas Harris’ “The Silence of the Lambs,” for which Demme won an Oscar.

Demme’s last feature film was 2008’s arthouse hit “Rachel Getting Married,” while other recent projects include a pair of Neil Young concert pics and the 2007 docu “Jimmy Carter Man From Plains.”

Ron Howard’s adaptation of King’s “Dark Tower” series recently fell apart at Universal, though Warner Bros.’ adaptation of “The Stand” appears to be heating up. King is repped by CAA.